Package



g- 17, 1955 D. E. WATERBURY 3,200,943

PACKAGE Filed Jan. 14, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 DANlEL E. WATERBURY.

HIS ATTORNEY.

Aug. 17, 1965 Filed Jan. 14, 1964 D. E. WATERBU RY PACKAGE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 HIS ATTORNEY.

Aug. 17, 1965 D. E. WATERBURY 3,200,943

PACKAGE Filed Jan. 14, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

DANIEL E. WATERBUR'Y.

HIS ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,200,943 PACKAGE Daniel E. Waterbury, Whitesboro, N.Y., assignor to Oberdorfer Foundries, Inc., Syracuse, N .Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 337,592 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) This invention has as an object a package for receiving a plurality of articles for shipment. The package comprises a pair of like rectangular shaped mating article carriers, each formed with a plurality of article receiving cavities. The carriers embody a structural arrangement, permitting the carriers to be economically formed by being moulded from plastic material, such as expanded polystyrene.

The carriers are moulded to form the article receiving cavities comparable to the shape and form of the articles being packaged, whereby the articles are completely encased and protected from damage during shipment without the use of employing partitions, dividers, or packing material.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a stack of a plurality of packages embodying my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of one package comprising a pair of article carriers taken on line 2-2, FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of one of the article carriers of the type shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the package comprising a pair of article carriers with the right portion being in section on line 44, FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective View of an article carrier embodying a modified arrangement.

FIGURE 6 is a view, similar to FIGURE 1, showing a plurality of stacked packages embodying the arrangement shown in FIGURE 5.

The package comprises a pair of like rectangular shaped mating article carriers. Each carrier consists of a fiat base portion 1% of general rectangular form. The base portion In is formed with a plurality of integral projections 11, 11A, 11B, arranged in uniform spaced apart relation in a row extending lengthwise of the base. The spacings between the projections are comparable in width to the width of the projections. Each projection is formed with an open article receiving cavity having end walls 12, 13, spaced inwardly from the side edges of the base.

The cavities are of size and configuration to receive the articles being packaged. As shown in FIGURE 3, the cavities are formed at one end with a compartment 17 to receive a small ampul 18. The remainder of the cavity is of greater width and depth to receive bottles 20. In this compartment, the side walls of the cavity are formed with vertically extending ribs 23 to snugly engage the body of the bottle. Similar ribs 24 are provided for engaging the neck portion 25 of the bottle and serve to prevent axial movement of the bottle in the cavity. In like manner, the smaller compartment 17 has ribs 27 formed in the side walls thereof for engaging the body portion of the ampul 18, and ribs 29 for engaging the neck portion of the ampul.

The projections 11A at one end of the row are located coincident with the adjacent end edge of the base 10. The projection 1113 at the opposite end of the row is "ice spaced inwardly from the opposite end edge 30 0f the base, whereby the base extends beyond the projection 1113 in the form of a flat flange 31, this extension being comparable to the width of the projections and the spacing therebetween.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 4, the base It? is formed with ribs 33 positioned medial of the projections 11, HA, there being one such rib in the end flange portion 31 of the base 10. These ribs 33 are comparable in length to the distance between the end walls 12, 13 of the article receiving cavity.

Articles are inserted in each cavity in each of the projections 11, 11A, 11B, and one loaded carrier is inverted and positioned on the other loaded carrier of the pair. Because of the arrangement described, a flange portion 31 of the base of each carrier will overlie a contiguous projection 11A, and because the ribs 33 are arranged medial of the projections, the ribs 33 of one carrier extend medial of the cavities of the other carrier of the pair and engage the articles positioned in the cavities to properly maintain them in the cavities. This is illustrated in the right sectional portion of FIGURE 4. The ribs 33 also prevent traverse shifting of one article carrier relative to the other, inasmuch as the ends of the ribs 33 engage the end walls 12, 13 of the article receiving cavities. The pairs of article carriers may be detachably secured together, as by adhesive tapes 35. A plurality of pairs may be arranged in stackformation and so maintained by similar tapes 37, FIGURE 1.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, the

base It) is formed with two rows of the projections 11,

11A, 13.13. The projections in one row are offset in a direction lengthwise of the base so as to be positioned medial of the projections in the other row, and the arrangement also includes the end flanges 31 of the base It which, when one carrier is inverted and positioned on the other of the pair, overlie the cavities in the projections HA. In this arrangement, the pairs of carriers may be detachably secured together, as by the tapes 35, or a plurality of pairs secured together in stack formation by tapes 37, as shown in FIGURE 6.

It will be apparent that the carriers are economically produced by being moulded from suitable plastic material, and that the articles packaged are entirely encased and adequately protected from damage during shipment. The carriers moulded from expanded polystyrene plastic material are of light weight but yet provide ample rigidity for the protection of the packaged articles.

What I claim is:

I. A package for a plurality of articles comprising a pair of like rectangular shaped mating article carriers hibulded integrally from a plastic material such as expanded polystyrene, each of said carriers consisting of a plate portion having a row of uniformly spaced apart projections extending outwardly from one surface thereof, each of said projections being formed with an open article receiving cavity extending inwardly from the outer end of the projection toward said plate portion and having a depth at least equal to the cross sectional dimension of the article, the projection at one end of said row being located coincident with the adjacent end edge of the plate portion, and the projection at the opposite end of the row being spaced inwardly from the opposite end edge of the plate portion a distance equal to the spacing between said projections, whereby one carrier may be inverted and positioned on the other carrier of the pair with the projections of one carrier positioned intermediate the projections on the other carrier, and with the surface of each plate portion intermediate said projections overlying said open concavities in the projections of the other .length of the concavities in said projections.

3. A package for a plurality of articles comprising a pair of like rectangular shaped mating article carriers moulded integrally from a plastic material such as expanded polystyrene, each of said carriers consisting of a flat plate portion having a plurality of rows of uniformly spaced apart projections extending outwardly irom one surface of said plate portion, the projections in one of said rows being offset in a direction lengthwise of the row relative to the projections in the adjacent row, whereby the latter projections are located medial of the space between the projections of said first mentioned row, each of said projections being formed with an open article 4. receiving cavity extending inwardly from the outer end of the projection toward said plate portion and having a depth at least equal to the cross sectional dimension of the article, and means for detachably securing one of said carriers in inverted position on the other carrier of a pair.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,487,123 11/49 Fluss et al. 20679 2,568,769 9/51 Shepard 217-265 2,984,346 5/61 Holley 20665 3,048,267 8/62 Starzec 20646 OTHER REFERENCES Modern Packaging, February 1957, Molded Expanded Polystyrene, pages 121-123.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE FOR A PLURALITY OF ARTICLES COMPRISING A PAIR OF LIKE RECTANGULAR SHAPED MATING ARTICLE CARRIERS MOULDED INTEGRALLY FROM A PLASTIC MATERIAL SUCH AS EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE, EACH OF SAID CARRIER CONSISTING OF A PLATE PORTION HAVING A ROW OF UNIFORMLY SPACED APART PROJECTIONS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM ONE SURFACE THEREOF, EACH OF SAID PROJECTIONS BEING FORMED WITH AN OPEN ARTICLE RECEIVING CAVITY EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE OUTER END OF THE PROJECTION TOWARD SAID PLATE PORTION AND HAVING A DEPTH AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE CROSS SECTIONAL DIMENSION OF THE ARTICLE, THE PROJECTION AT ONE END OF SAID ROW BEING LOCATED COINCIDENT WITH THE ADJACENT END EDGE OF THE PLATE PORTION, AND THE PROJECTION AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE ROW BEING SPACED INWARDLY FROM THE OPPOSITE END EDGE OF THE PLATE PORTION A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THE SPACING BETWEEN SAID PROJECTIONS, WHEREBY ONE CARRIER MAY BE INVERTED AND POSITIONED ON THE OTHER CARRIER OF THE PAIR WITH THE PROJECTIONS OF ONE CARRIER POSITIONED INTERMEDIATE THE PROJECTIONS ON THE OTHER CARRIER, AND WITH THE SURFACE OF EACH PLATE PORTION INTERMEDIATE SAID PROJECTIONS OVERLYING SAID OPEN CONCAVITIES IN THE PROJECTIONS OF THE OTHER CARRIER, AND MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE PAIR OF CARRIERS TOGETHER. 